(The Times of India via NewsEdge) Bharat Sanchar Nigam's (BSNL) announcement to cut fixed line tariffs by 60% come November is expected to prevent subscribers from surrendering their landlines, according to BSNL chairman and managing director AK Sinha.
'We hope this tariff plan will arrest the tendency to surrender the fixed-line phones,' he said, noting that many of the company's subscribers were surrendering their landline connections due to the rapid proliferation of mobile phones and stiff competition from private players.
The new tariff scheme, a modification of the "One India" plan, will allow BSNL's more than 11.6 million subscribers to make STD (subscriber trunk dialing) calls anywhere in the country at 1 rupee (2.2 US cents) per minute and local calls for 1 rupee (2.2 US cents) per three minutes.
Monthly rentals under the "One India" plan will also be reduced from 225 rupees ($4.95) to 180 rupees ($3.96), besides doubling the free calls to 50 calls a month.
Those in lower rental plans - rural at 60 rupees ($1.33) and semi urban at 120 rupees ($2.65) - can switch to the 180-rupee plan and avail of the benefit.
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL), which operates in Delhi and Mumbai where BSNL does not, said it had no immediate plans to follow suit but would look into the new tariffs.
BSNL and MTNL jointly launched the "One India" plan, and MTNL usually offered tariffs similar to those of BSNL.
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